


Hold On Till May

by ussnicole



Category: Pierce the Veil, Sleeping With Sirens
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Cutting, Depression, F/M, IT RHYMES, Implied Sexual Content, Implied Smut, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Peer Pressure, Run-aways, See what I did there, Self-Harm, Song fic, Suicide, Vic is a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 14:22:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9552656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ussnicole/pseuds/ussnicole
Summary: She sits up high, surrounded by the sunI've been up here so long, I'm going crazy





	1. Introduction

Kellin loves her and they can get away,   
But only if she can Hold On Till May.


	2. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kellin's POV

Just as I'm laying back on my bed with my phone to mess around, it rings. I groan in annoyance; it's Monday night and I just want to relax. I don't recognize the number but roll my eyes and answer the call anyway.

"Hello?"

"Kellin?" It's Mrs. Hart, my friend - well, girlfriend - Amber's mom. She sounds stressed and worried. Come to think of it, I haven't heard from Amber in a while.

"Yeah, that's me. What's wrong? Is Amber okay?" I've sat up, worry now filling my head too.

"Oh, God. I was hoping you knew... Amber's been missing since Saturday night. She said she was spending the weekend at a friend's house and would come home after school today. She wasn't even in school, and when I called her friend's house, she was never there. She left her phone in her room, but I thought she might be with you..." I gulp as she trails off. I hope Amber is okay. I stay on the phone a while longer, condoling and assuring Mrs. Hart that Amber is fine, but as soon as she hangs up I jump into action.

My room is messy but I sift through the clothes impatiently, searching for my Vans. Finally I find them, tripping down the hallway as I yank them on. I have one hand on the front door doorknob when my mom comes out of the kitchen.

"Where do you think you're going, young man?" I freeze. I don't want to tell her about Amber...

"Im just going to my friend's house down the street. I'll be back after school tomorrow," I tell her, crossing my fingers and hoping she'll buy it. She sighs.

"Fine," she says at last, and as I'm closing the door I hear her add on, "be safe."

I live right by a forest, so I have an idea of where Amber could be. Someone built a treehouse not far from either of our houses, but they abandoned it. So it became our secret hiding place, and later our own escape from reality. I hope she's there; I'm not sure what I would do if she isn't.

Luckily, she is. She's actually climbed up out of the window and is sitting on the roof, looking at the sky. The sun is setting behind her, and its light surrounds her, making her a silhouette against the sunset. She's beautiful. I climb up the rickety ladder into the tree house, hoisting myself into the shelter. It's actually pretty big; I bet you could for a mattress in here and have room to spare. As it is, we have pillows and blankets that we snuck out of our houses, along with flashlights, some crackers, and other random stuff. I guess it's kinda weird that two seniors in high school hang out in an old tree house, but it's nice to have somewhere to go. I'm sort of surprised no one else has found it; it's not like it's hiding, because it's by some busy train tracks.

I look around, then sigh. If I want to go where up she is, I have to shimmy through the little window that she's already taken the screen off of. Even so, I am bigger than her so it's gonna suck. I stick my head out to yell up at her.

"Are you gonna come down, or do I have to come up there?" It's cold, and I rub my arms. I should have brought a sweatshirt, but she's wearing only shorts and a flannel. She doesn't reply, and I groan as I start to squeeze through the window. As soon as I look up, I curse; her feet are two inches from landing on my face and she's coming down pretty quickly. I fall backwards on my ass and she snorts, smiling faintly as she smoothly slips back through the window, snapping the screen back on and closing it with a snap. She turns around and shoots me a bigger smile, but I can tell she's been crying. I pat the ground next to me but she sits down across from me, tucking her knees up towards her chin. She's rocking back and forth, and she's crying again. I scoot over to sit by her, wrapping my arms around her protectively. Her lips are blue and trembling, and her skin is ice cold. Idly I wonder how long she's been on the roof; her clothes are slightly damp. I take her hands, and am shocked to find thin, red lines up and down her forearms and disappearing into the sleeves of her rolled up flannel. I press my lips to both of her wrists, willing away her pain, and then tilt her head up and look her in the eyes.

"Amber, when... Why would you... I could have-" she interrupts me here by pressing a quick kiss to my lips. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes and I have a weird pain in my chest.

"It's not your fault," she whispers, shaking her head. "It's just... Just everything, building up."

"Since when?" I ask, frowning. Tears are running freely down my face, but I don't care.

"Freshman year," she sighs, and I gasp. I was still at the same school, I could have helped!

"Tell me," I demand. So she does.


	3. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amber's POV

"It started freshman year - the bullying, anyway. It's not really important who-"

"Damn right, it's important!" Kellin blurts. I shake my head at him, and he sighs. "Go on."

"Anyway, they sort of followed me around, giving me shit and making fun of me. They'd slam my locker and steal my backpack and other annoying stuff. I dealt with it. It started to get a bit worse in sophomore year with the same bullying plus problems at home, what with John's shitty grades and his... Drug addiction. Mom and Dad were always arguing and yelling, and sometimes they'd take it out on me.

"I tried not to let it affect me. I had you after all, and I had a few other friends. We had good times; John had been clean for weeks, and there was less yelling. Vic and his friends-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Vic? As in Fuentes, Vic?"

"Yeah... So?" I raise my eyebrow at Kellin.

"Oh. He's nice to me."

"Good for you. Anyways... So they stopped harassing me for the most part, but then Vic got my number and started texting me. He was being really friendly, and I'll admit I was flattered. No guy had really shown any interest in me other than friend-level, and I was beginning to feel really depressed.

"For a while, it was so amazing and I was really happy to be talking to Vic. But soon, right before the end of sophomore year, actually, I realized that nothing had changed. Instead of bullying me, Vic completely ignored and avoided me, letting his friends bully me harshly while not saying a thing. I held out, occasionally confronting him about it over text. He always chalked it up to being shy around me and not wanting to piss off his friends. I was so pathetic that I let it go, given I didn't want to lose the idea of a guy liking me.

"Everything was pretty fine, even though he was still ignoring me. I got used to the bullying, but it all went downhill when I confronted him face to face. It was right before the end of the year, at lunch. I think you were hanging out with your other friends or something. Anyway, it was at lunch when he was with his friends. I asked him why he wouldn't talk to me, and he scoffed. He laughed in my face, called me an attention whore, told me to get a life. He called me a slut.

"I was so upset that I told my mom I was sick and stayed home for two days. Vic tried to apologize but I ignored his texts and calls and told myself I wouldn't talk to him again. Staying home was awful. John had relapsed and was back on drugs, and my parents and he argued some nights until one o'clock in the morning. My parents saw how much I had been texting Vic, and told me to stop talking to him altogether. I agreed wholeheartedly, at the time.

"That's why I spent so much of the summer either with you or at another friend's house. John kept making terrible choices and my house was a war zone. Both my parents and John took out their frustration out on my. Mom and Dad would yell, but John would hit. I was afraid of him, and eventually that fear encompassed any guy - except you, of course.

"But junior year, you left and everything got worse."

"I'm so sorry" Kellin cries, regret and something I can't quite read in his eyes. He's got tears running down his face still. I lean over and rub them away, and then continue.


	4. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amber's POV

"I actually didn't sleep at all the night before the first day of junior year. It would be my first day of school without my best friend. I was terrified. I also hadn't seen Vic all summer, and I definitely didn't miss the bullying. The first week wasn't so bad. Even though I had three out of seven classes with Vic, he was ignoring me. But so were my so-called 'friends.' I began to skip lunch, instead spending the time either in the halls or the library.

"But after the first week, Vic started texting me again. He'd bug me in class, throwing paper at me, but never talking unless he was joining his friends, who had started bullying me again. I tried not to text him back, but I couldn't help it. Something about him... I couldn't stop. It was masochistic and I hated it. He... well, he was a teenage boy. I was naive, and he used me. He was sexting me and I was too foolish to realize it.

"My parents found out I was texting him, and they found out about the sexting. Never pictures, just words, but still... That. But they didn't hear the whole story. How it was  _ him _ , always him. They took my phone. Now they were yelling at both John and me. I was just like John: a disappointment. On top of that, my grades dropped and my dad started commenting on my weight. As if my self esteem wasn't low enough.

"Remember that open dance we went to in the middle of junior year? Vic was there, I don't know if you saw him. He and his friends cornered me and bullied me for hanging out with you. They told me terrible things, they said I wasn't worthy to suck anyone's dick. They asked me how much I was paying you to stay around me. They asked how much sex I had to sell to have friends. I'm not sure how long I had been cutting, but they saw my scars. Vic almost walked away, but his friends pressured him to stay.

"They made me cut in front of them. They took a piece of glass - I don't know where they found it - and held me, put the glass in my hand, and guided it over my arms. They were the deepest cuts I've ever had, and when they wouldn't stop bleeding, the boys ran. I went home early, that's why I left you there. I couldn't face you in the state I was. I had to get John to take me to the ER for blood transfusions. I lied and told the nurses that I had been in a car accident and a broken window had cut my arms. They were skeptical, but didn't report me, thank god.

"Vic was still trying to text me at the end of junior year, and I ended up changing my number. I made sure only friends had it, but somehow he found it. He wouldn't stop texting me, so I blocked him. By this time, we were about a month into this year, senior year. When I blocked him, the bullying escalated. It was now more physical: an occasional shove into the lockers, a forced kiss, a hickey I would have to hide for a week.

"Then, during Christmas break, you and I became, well, us. I was determined to avoid them at all cost, keeping you in my mind to keep myself strong. It worked for the most part, until last Friday." I pause, chewing my lip nervously. Kellin must hate me. I'm surprised he's still here. I go on, afraid of what he will say but unwilling to stop talking now that I've started.


	5. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amber's POV

"Vic tried to force himself on me on Friday. His friends helped him drag me to the bathroom after school, and Vic locked the door. I was so scared; I tried to lock a stall and get away from him. But he was strong and bigger than me. He... he almost raped me, Kellin. I ran to the door, tried to unlock it, but he pinned me against it. He... It.. His dick was pressed to me and he tried to take my shirt off. I kicked back, unlocked the door, and ran for my life.

"They chased me all the way to my door. They didn't dare knock; John has enough of a reputation. But they waited in front of my house. So I hopped the fence and I've been here ever since. I can't go back, Kellin. He'll  _ kill _ me." I stare at my hands, tears dripping down my face. He hates me, he hates me, he hates-

He's kissing me.


	6. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kellin's POV

My tears for her mix with her own and we gently lie back on the pile of blankets we've put on the floor. I support my own wait and pull back for air, keeping my eyes on hers. The sun is almost down, and I can just barely see her face by the twilight illumination.

She reaches up and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling my lips back to hers. The kiss is salty, but perfect. I can hear all of her unspoken words in the gentle urgency of her movements, and I hope she knows I won't ever leave her. I gently move my hips and she groans at the contact, her eyes fluttering closed. A train goes by, rattling the small window and masking the sounds we make. Afterwards, we just lie there, together. It's cold, but we have each other. And that's the only way I'd ever want it.

Some people say that sex is scary; others live for it. Everyone has a different opinion: don't do it too soon, don't wait till it's too late. Honestly? If you love the person, it's worth whatever you do. 

And let's just say I am very much in love with Amber.


	7. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That May:

THREE TEENS DEAD IN SUDDEN RASH OF SUICIDES

Earlier this week, three seniors at Clairemont High School were found dead. Police reported that all three were suicides, but the relation between all three has not yet been confirmed. Two victims, Kellin Quinn and Amber Hart, were found together in the bathroom of the Quinn home, cause of death suspected to be an overdose of pain medication. The third victim, Vic Fuentes, was found the next day in the forest behind his house, cause of death asphyxiation.

Police are looking into the deaths; if you know anything, call the deathwatch hotline at 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433). Condolences go out to the families and friends. Funeral services will be held later this month.


	8. Epilogue

Kellin loved her and they got away,

But so did Vic; he just couldn't say.


	9. Epilogue

I just reread this and realized it's not quite clear what happened.

This is based on true events, but dramatized. The texting part is true, and the ignoring part is as well, but everything else is fiction.

The end of the book is rather confusing, I'll admit. The newspaper headline is the first week of May; the rest of the story takes place in April. Amber was over at Kellin's house, spending the night, and she couldn't face going to school again with Vic there, so she took a handful of pills. When Kellin found her, waking up early without her, he took the pills too because he couldn't protect her and didn't want to live without her.

Vic killed himself because he also loved Amber. He was peer pressured and didn't know what to do, so he bullied her instead of standing up for her and himself. When he saw the ambulances and got a text about it, he wandered into the woods, crying and stumbling wildly. He found the treehouse, climbing into it and smelling  _ her _ . But also Kellin. He couldn't take it, so he disconnected the ladder and used the rope to hang himself.

This is the saddest story I've ever written. I guess the moral is don't fucking bully people and don't give in to or participate in peer pressure.

And there is always hope. Please hold on till May.


End file.
